Signaling pathways in cells often begin with an effector stimulus that leads to a phenotypically describable change in cellular physiology. Despite the key role intracellular signaling pathways play in disease pathogenesis, in most cases, little is understood about a signaling pathway other than the initial stimulus and the ultimate cellular response.
Historically, signal transduction has been analyzed by biochemistry or genetics. The biochemical approach dissects a pathway in a “stepping-stone” fashion: find a molecule that acts at, or is involved in, one end of the pathway, isolate assayable quantities and then try to determine the next molecule in the pathway, either upstream or downstream of the isolated one. The genetic approach is classically a “shot in the dark”: induce or derive mutants in a signaling pathway and map the locus by genetic crosses or complement the mutation with a cDNA library. Limitations of biochemical approaches include a reliance on a significant amount of pre-existing knowledge about the constituents under study and the need to carry such studies out in vitro, post-mortem. Limitations of purely genetic approaches include the need to first derive and then characterize the pathway before proceeding with identifying and cloning the gene.
Screening molecular libraries of chemical compounds for drugs that regulate signal systems has led to important discoveries of great clinical significance. Cyclosporin A (CsA) and FK506, for examples, were selected in standard pharmaceutical screens for inhibition of T-cell activation. It is noteworthy that while these two drugs bind completely different cellular proteins—cyclophilin and FK506 binding protein (FKBP), respectively, the effect of either drug is virtually the same—profound and specific suppression of T-cell activation, phenotypically observable in T cells as inhibition of mRNA production dependent on transcription factors such as NF-AT and NF-κB. Libraries of small peptides have also been successfully screened in vitro in assays for bioactivity. The literature is replete with examples of small peptides capable of modulating a wide variety of signaling pathways. For example, a peptide derived from the HIV-1 envelope protein has been shown to block the action of cellular calmodulin.
A major limitation of conventional in vitro screens is delivery. While only minute amounts of an agent may be necessary to modulate a particular cellular response, delivering such an amount to the requisite subcellular location necessitates exposing the target cell or system to relatively massive concentrations of the agent. The effect of such concentrations may well mask or preclude the targeted response.
In addition, traditional methods do not allow the creation of completely new enzymatic pathways.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide methods and compositions for the effective introduction of enzymatic libraries into cells to screen and create bioactive compounds.